Tudors Brought to Life for Pupils

Bolton School Year 5 girls were joined by Year 5 boys from Park
Road for a Hautbois Workshop where they spent a morning in the life
of a Tudor peasant!

Hautbois are Rick and Helen Heavisides, a lively and talented
duo who use music as a vehicle for historical learning. The pupils
got to dress in full period costume, listen to the music, handle
artefacts, and debate important issues of the time to enable a
deeper understanding of the Tudor period.

The workshop employed a cross-curricular approach with elements
of Science, Literacy, History, Music and Citizenship incorporated.
The pupils got to learn about Henry VIII and his six wives, his
split with the Church of Rome, the dissolution of the monasteries
and reformation of the Church, along with the differences between
the lives of the rich and the poor in Tudor times.

They learned about Tudor words and their origins and about the
science of sound based on seeing and hearing copies of the
instruments played during Tudor times including the hurdy-gurdy.
They each dressed in traditional Tudor peasant costume and as the
finale to their day they learned how to dance a traditional peasant
dance from the 16th century.